Kyle will be on medication the rest of his life, but is now back in class at Boulder Creek High School. He aspires to be an engineer, and thinks he may want to go to the University of Alabama to pursue that goal. “My friends are basically my life right now.” Kyle said. “And my family. Those are the things that are important. If you have your friends, your family and your health, that’s really all you need in life. The rest of it doesn’t matter.” And the message to the woman who gave of herself, quite literally, to save a stranger? “Thank you for the new lease on life,” Kyle said. “Thank you for making my brother’s life go back to normal,” Kobe added. I looked at Ginger and knew that any words she said could not come close to saying how she felt – how any mother would feel, toward a stranger who sacrificed so that her son could live. I felt the simple humanity of what it feels to be both broken and whole at the same time. “Especially when somebody doesn’t even know us, to donate something like that …” she paused, closing her eyes for a moment. “It’s incredible. Thank you for being so selfless and for changing my son’s life back to normal.” At this very moment, there are thousands of mothers just like Ginger and Lisa. Thousands of families hoping for a miracle. Every year, 20,000 people need someone to donate a kidney so that they can live. Only 5,000 of those people – husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, and someone’s child – get their life-saving wish. Kidneys are unique because most of us only need one to function normally. Live donors, like Kyle’s aunt and his own anonymous donor, make up 47 percent of today’s donations. Because of medical breakthroughs in anti-rejection drugs, donors no longer have to be a close genetic match to their recipients. Over 100,000 more people are waiting for a heart, lungs, a liver and other organs so that they can smile again, walk again and live again. Every day, 18 people die waiting, yet just one donor can save up to eight lives. All you have to do is register to be an organ donor and make your family aware about your wishes. The gift of knowing a mother can watch her child grow up or that a child can live out their dreams is one of the biggest legacies you can leave behind. www.azdonorregistry.org F ebruary 2013
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